The four golden arms swayed slightly.
One golden arm moved, punching through the misty radiance before it. Another arm swept through the air, instantly conjuring a dense array of golden palm shadows that effortlessly blocked the countless emerald streaks.
At the same time, the other two golden arms aimed at the two wood spirits and flicked their fingers, sending ten golden sword beams shooting forth, arriving before the two spirits in an instant.
The two wood spirits were startled. One manifested a suit of green wooden armor, while the other summoned a yellow wooden shield, both attempting to block the incoming sword beams.
However, the ten sword beams were formed from Han Li’s Emerald Swarm Sword, an incredibly sharp weapon.
With a mere flash, they sliced through both wood spirits and their defenses, cleaving them into several pieces.
Yet Han Li was not satisfied. The two illusory hands continued flicking relentlessly, unleashing a torrent of sword beams that drowned the two wood spirits in golden light, reducing them to bloody mists.
Han Li took a deep breath, and the arms that had been restrained suddenly trembled. Rippling golden light eerily emerged along them.
The wood spirit’s body and the green spear that had trapped Han Li’s hands shattered upon contact with the golden light, crumbling into dust that scattered in the wind.
Withdrawing his hands, Han Li retracted the golden radiance, and the four additional illusory arms vanished in a flash.
Using the second stage of the True Devilish Sacred Art against mere Nascent Soul-level opponents was truly overkill.
However, his mastery of this technique was still shallow, preventing him from fully unleashing its power. It couldn’t be used in direct confrontations with formidable foes, serving only as an unexpected trump card.
But once his cultivation reached the Void Refinement stage and he mastered the third stage of the technique, the True Devilish Sacred Art’s power would become unimaginably immense, rivaling any so-called supreme cultivation method.
Of this, he was confident.
Lost in thought, Han Li transformed back into a green streak and shot away.
Along the way, he encountered several waves of wood spirit interceptions.
Most of these wood spirits were only at the Nascent Soul level, with some even weaker.
Han Li avoided them when possible, but when forced, he swiftly eliminated them with ruthless efficiency, leaving no room for entanglement.
After half a day of relentless flight, Han Li finally faced a major obstacle.
Before him stood two wood spirits with purple sashes—one burly, the other slender, clearly male and female.
Behind them stood four silver-furred wood apes, each wielding a massive yellow staff. The apes’ eyes gleamed with intelligence, exuding an aura of danger comparable to the two purple-tier wood spirits.
These two purple-tier wood spirits were equivalent to human Deity Transformation cultivators, making them formidable opponents.
With less than ten thousand li left to the edge of the Blackleaf Forest, Han Li had no intention of engaging in a prolonged battle. As he was halted, a cold killing intent surfaced on his face as he glared at the two wood spirits and four apes.
Suddenly, he reached behind his head, and a surge of gray light erupted, coalescing into an enormous ring nearly thirty zhang wide. As it spun in the air, it drew the attention of all his enemies.
Simultaneously, he flicked his sleeve, silently releasing seventy-two small swords that scattered in all directions.
He planned to use the Magnetic Divine Light to restrain his foes while deploying the Great Geng Sword Formation to annihilate them in one fell swoop.
…
At the same time, Xiao Hong hovered mid-air, her face pale as she stared at several green figures before her.
Three wood spirits with purple sashes!
…
Elsewhere, Long Dong’s golden streak continued fleeing, pursued by a golden wood ape wielding a massive black axe, its body wreathed in five-colored radiance.
Having reverted from his dragon form, Long Dong glanced back at the terrifying golden ape but showed no intention of stopping, instead accelerating his escape.
A hundred li ahead lay the edge of the Blackleaf Forest.
…
A white streak shrieked through the air, pursued closely by a silver light. Both flickered in and out of sight, covering thousands of zhang in moments.
Though the white streak couldn’t shake off the silver light, neither could the silver light close the gap.
The two streaks burst out of the forest, leaving the Blackleaf Forest far behind.
…
Han Li hovered in mid-air, watching as the countless golden threads of his sword formation converged, effortlessly slicing the last silver ape into pieces.
With a sigh, he formed a hand seal and uttered, “Retrieve.”
Hundreds of golden sword beams erupted from the void, chiming as they condensed back into seventy-two small golden swords.
After spinning in the air, they shot back into Han Li’s sleeves.
Glancing at the blood mist still lingering at the formation’s center, Han Li’s eyes flickered.
The true power of the Great Geng Sword Formation, deployed with seventy-two swords, far exceeded his expectations. The two purple-tier wood spirits and four troublesome silver apes had been effortlessly slain without resistance.
It seemed Long Dong’s claim—that Qing Yuanzi had used the formation to contend with a Body Integration cultivator despite being only at the Void Refinement stage—might indeed be true.
Lost in thought, Han Li wasted no time. Retrieving his swords, he resumed his flight toward the forest’s edge.
Half an hour later, he emerged from the forest.
Once a hundred li away, he immediately activated the Taiyi Vanishing Talisman, rendering himself completely invisible.
Only then did he relax, changing direction and continuing his flight.
Shortly after his departure, two yellow streaks arrived from the forest, revealing two wood spirits with orange sashes—high-tier wood spirits who had been trapped by the white-robed girl earlier.
After circling the area and murmuring among themselves, they found no trace of Han Li and reluctantly retreated.
Unaware that his caution had spared him another ordeal, Han Li flew another ten thousand li before deeming himself truly free of pursuit.
With a hand seal, he dispelled the talisman’s effect, restoring his form.
After carefully scanning his surroundings, he descended onto a small hill, his expression dark as he pondered his next move.
Frustration gnawed at him.
Had the jade slip been destroyed, rendering his mission a failure? Without sufficient Dustbane Pills, would he have to return to Tianyuan City?
No—the one who had trapped the silver-tier wood spirit must have been a spy planted by the two races. The destroyed jade slip might have been a decoy, with the true intelligence still in the spy’s possession. Finding her could still salvage the mission.
A glimmer of hope surfaced.
He needed to locate the white-robed girl. But how?
A strange smile curled his lips as he flicked his sleeve, releasing a shadow that morphed into a palm-sized leopard—the Leopard Beast.
It blinked its emerald eyes at him and chirped lazily.
Ignoring its drowsiness—likely picked up from the Soul Devourer—Han Li summoned a green disk and chanted, extracting a pea-sized white orb that hovered above it.
He whistled and beckoned the beast, but it merely yawned, unmoved.
Sighing, Han Li retrieved a small green vial and tossed a crimson pill its way.
Instantly revitalized, the beast leaped, swallowed the pill, and wagged its tail, begging for more.
Without a word, Han Li pointed at the white orb.
Understanding his intent, the beast flickered onto the disk, eyed the orb, tilted its head, and swallowed it whole.
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